Jefferson County has an undeveloped asset that has the potential to create jobs and sales tax revenues. That would be acres of vacant land with highway frontage adjacent to the Jack Brooks Regional Airport. County commissioners are acting in the best interests of taxpayers to lease this land to a developer who plans to build 450,000 square feet of retail space there.

Similar to plans to develop a water park and convention hotel at Ford Park, taxpayers have virtually no up-front risks or expenses. That all falls to someone in the private sector, who presumably wouldn't make a multi-million-dollar investment without careful study and belief in future success.

Local governments generally don't get involved in private projects like this, but in these cases the county owns the land and has a special opportunity.

County officials should use that position to negotiate the best possible deal for taxpayers. So far it seems that they have.